Wasim Hassan Raja

Cricket was a regular affair between St Anthony’s Lahore and Central Model School Lahore. These were the late sixtees and Wasin Raja of Central Model was always difficult to contend with. Though St Anthony’s had names like Talat Ali, Saleen Altaf and a second string name like Imran Khan, Raja could hit the ball all over in the small Oval of the School. By the seventees, they had all joined the Pakistan team.

When I joined Government College in 1971, he was there in the Political Science Department doing his Masters. He continued to captain the college team and beat the hell out of Islamia College spearheaded by Sarfraz Nawaz.

As a young boy, he was stylish, a bit laid back and a heavy smoker. By that time his younger brother Rameez had joined St Anthony’s and made a name for himself.

I was in the ground when he beat West Indian Sunny Rammadin to pulp in the Rawalpindi stadium and won a side match.

His style and guile were unique and perhaps his gift of the gab came his way. Despite all his talent and scoring heavily when the top batsmen failed, he fell prey to the dressing room intrigues. His illustrious carrer was punctuated with inconsistency in selection and then he faded away to a land afar. We never saw enough of him and what we dis was just flashes of brilliance.

May your soul rest in Peace.